ב"ה
LONG ISLAND LODGE No. 1353, B'NAI B'RITH
P.O. BOX 51, WOODMERE , NY 11598-0051
516-374-2958 Mobile
21 Elul 5771 September 20, 2011
Largely Unknown Story of Unlikely Friendship and Birth of a Nation
The truism that success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan, is movingly demonstrated in the onstage drama Harry & Eddie, The Birth of Israel, currently a hit on Broadway, and presented as a command performance this evening by the Jewish Community Center of the Greater Five Towns at Temple Israel, Lawrence.
The minimalist cast focused on the fraught relationship of life-long friends, President Harry S. Truman and his former business partner Eddie Jacobson, assisted by his wife Bluma, along with the off-stage reference to Dr. Chaim Weistzman --- instrumental in getting Britain to issue the Balfour Declaration on November 2, 1917, and serving as first President of the Jewish State in 1948 --- Truman's wife Bess, their daughter Margaret, and the Jacobsons' daughters Eleanor and Gloria.
The capacity crowd --- many our dear friends, or organizational associates, even my students in AARP's defensive driving programs at the Peninsula Public Library --- feasted on the panorama of Jewish history, seriously and humorously, always rivetingly recited by Rick Grossman in the role of Eddie, at a Washington, D.C., B'nai B'rith function, shortly after Israel's Independence, May 14, 1948: the wandering of his own family, from Brooklyn to the Midwest, paralleling the Jewish People's search for a home, survival, and national acceptance.
Nineteenth century's advance in expanding political and social equality proved a mirage for Jews as the ancient, most insidious hatred, anti-Semitism morphed into new, and more virulent humiliations --- pogroms (czarist Russia), accusations of disloyalty (French Captain Alfred Dreyfuss), eventually outright frontal extermination (Holocaust, incited by Hitler's Germany). The silver linings appeared in Theodor Herzl's vision of Zionism, a homeland for Jews; the willingness of halutsim, Jewish pioneers, to settle arid Ottoman Palestine; and, most hopeful, in the latter years of World War I, the promise that a British Mandate in Palestine, extracted from dismembered, prostrated Turkey --- itself going through a Kemalist transformation --- would eventually lead to a Jewish Third Commonwealth, with protections for the Arab minority (foreshadow of a two-state solution?).
Harry Truman, played by Joe Ryan, understatedly but emphatically, when Jews were involved --- always protesting that he is not anti-Semitic even as he readily used phrases like Jew-down (seeking a bargain), you people (the paradigmatic "other"), grew up in poverty, meeting and becoming his buddy's superior (calling his Jewish partner "brother" when Eddie died in 1955), and operating an Army canteen stateside during W.W. I; married Bess, a step up the social scale and with the observed displeasure of her parents; got his political start under the patronage of ethically-challenged Kansas City boss Tom Pendergast, eventually rising to become U.S. Senator, and, during World War II, gaining a reputation for rectitude in his investigation of profiteering, finally replacing Henry A. Wallace, and becoming FDR's vice president in the election of 1944!
During this darkest of periods in the annals of Jewish history, the Nazis had become victorious in Germany; the Nuremberg Laws excluded Jews from public life, leading to Kristallnacht, the unleashing of violence against them on November 9, 1939, followed by the Final Solution, gassing and burning nearly Six Million, including a million and a half of them children. Throughout, America was isolationist (until the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor ), indifferent, or silent about the Jews, as the notorious saga of the S.S. St. Louis demonstrated, during which episode nearly two thousand German Jews bound for Cuba and refused entry upon arrival, were doubly rejected by a Sate Department fearing the change in American character were these refugees to be admitted.
While the mid-century tragedy of the Jews was unfolding, Eddie confronted the insistent appeals of his wife Bluma, convincingly played by Kathleen Mucciolo-Kolins, who wanted her husband to "do something:" raise money for Jews in Palestine, and, ultimately, play his ace card in his panoply, milking his friendship to now President Harry S. Truman lobbying, and eventually convincing him to see the celebrated Dr. Chaim Weitzman. The rest, is what legends are made: the 15 minutes originally scheduled, became more than an hour, making the President an advocate for the Jewish State, and ordering his Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, to be the first to recognize it de facto, upon Prime Minister David Ben Gurion's Proclamation!
An unexpected climax of the performance was director Bob Spiotto's gracious arrangement for audience participation via a comment-question-answer session with the panel of actors, joined by playwright Mark Weston, well-known as writer for such daytime serials, and game shows The College Bowl, and The Price is Right. My own contribution, with Anna looking on, was to express immense pride that our Order was the venue where this dramatic representation unfolded, while recommending that the playwright devote five more minutes to include a reference to the real-life impact United Nations Resolution 181 on the Partition of Palestine had on November 29, 1947, making possible the creation of Eretz Yisrael, ironically, resonating with import for today's elusive two-state proposal. Further, I referred to the confusion created whenever unfriendly voices are heard to say: we are not anti-Semitic, but merely anti-Zionist. Such sophistry is untenable, elegantly and eloquently dispelled most prominently by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
As we enter the last week of pre-Rosh HaShana spiritual preparation, the inspiring production should make us all more compassionate and less judgmental; more inclusive as Jews qua Jews, ready and willing to chastise those in our ranks who would needlessly divide us; and let us reach out to compose our differences with estranged family, friends, and neighbors. Thus, with a light heart, and optimism informed by introspection and love, we shall be confident to usher a New Year 5772 of sweetness, health, cheer, prosperity, and shalom. Amen.
Sincerely, and with fraternal affection,
Asher
Prof. Asher J. Matathias, Lodge President
Asher
Prof. Asher J. Matathias, Lodge President
*Newly Asher, Kol Hakavod!!! Emilio S., Mexico
**Hi, Thank you for the above info. Anita B., Howell , NJ
*VERY WELL SAID!!! S.R.,
**DITTO
*A: Aww … a mitzvah! Many, many thanks! I/we appreciate all you are doing to spread the HARRY & EDDIE word! Keep it going! Bravo~! Will also send you some additional promotional cards. Might you/your group, be interested in booking any of my shows to present –- perhaps even as a fund-raiser or just to have fun??? I have a few very popular/unique one-man shows that may be of interest: COURTING THE JESTER: A MUSICAL SALUTE TO DANNY KAYE, SHADES OF GREY: A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO JOEL GREY, SHALOM! SHOLOM!: CELEBRATING SHOLOM ALEICHEM, “BUT WHEN WE STARTED SINGING …” - EXPLORING PRIMO LEVI. If you want more information, please let me know. Many thanks! Best, BOB
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